Have I Been Lied To?
The bait and switch car dealer scam has to be one of the oldest dealer advertising tricks in the book. It normally takes place during your initial contact with a car dealership on the internet or over the phone and it only gets worse once you arrive at the dealership.
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The bait and switch advertising scam is used by dealers to lure a customer to the dealership by advertising very low prices or payments on a vehicle in their media advertisements.
A dealer advertises a really cheap price or payment and does not have the actual vehicle on the premises. This is called the “BAIT.” When a customer inquires about the advertised vehicle, the car salesman tells them whatever they need to to get them to come into the dealership before disclosing the vehicle is already sold or not in stock.
The “SWITCH” takes place when the customer arrives at the dealership, they’re told the car has already been sold or is not available at the advertised price. However, the dealer does have several cars similar to the one advertised, at a higher price of course.
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A dealer will advertise their most stripped, no-frills, cheapest new SUV in the paper at a payment that requires you to put 25% down, with A+++ credit, at a 72-month term.
The ad will show a picture of a fully-loaded brand new SUV which is not the same trim level as the payment reflects. In big bold font type, a payment of $225/mo*. All the little extra details like the amount down and excellent credit required will be in the small print (disclaimer) hidden in the ad somewhere.
What the dealer is hoping is while you’re browsing through the ads, all you focus on is the super low payment on the vehicle you’ve wanted to buy. This get’s you excited, you drop everything and head to the dealership.
Once you’re at the dealer, the “bait” (dealer’s advertisement) has done its job and got you in the door. Now it’s the sales staff’s job to complete the “switch” by getting you to spend more money (buy a different car at a much higher price) and give the dealership a chance to make a profit from you. This is a lot easier than you think and can actually happen in a few different ways.
The first way is once you get to the dealership the salesperson may say something like, “Oh this car, we only had one available and it didn’t even have air conditioning, we sold it just before you arrived. However, I can show you some similar models that have more options and are very affordable.”
This works more often than not. You say to yourself, “I’m already here, might as well take a look.” Big mistake, you’ve just fallen for the oldest trick in the book.
The other way is less aggressive and doesn’t give you the feeling you’ve been victimized by the bait and switch scam. The dealer actually has the “ad-car” on the lot and will show it to you so you can bump yourself off of it onto a higher-priced model.
You explain to the salesperson you want the deal in the paper. A smart salesman will ask to see the ad, take the paper from you, and conveniently make it disappear.
He will ask if he can take your paper with him to “check with his manager” to see if the advertised vehicle is still available. When the salesperson returns, your copy of the ad does not. This gets the ad and all the competitors’ ads out of your hands.
Car salespeople have been highly trained on how to handle these types of customers. He will start “down-selling” the ad car immediately. Once you see the ad car and notice it doesn’t have many bells and whistles like power windows, locks, CD, carpet, or even a/c. You’ll either start to get a little upset or be flexible in your wants and needs.
This is when the salesperson and the dealer’s sales system kicks in. The salesman may say something like, “I know you wanted the deal in the paper but for just a little bit more I can get you into something with a whole lot more features that you’ll really like to drive.” At this point, you’ll either want to leave or say to yourself, “what the heck, I’m here anyway.” The “switch” is complete.
Most states require car dealers to list a stock number for any vehicle placed in an advertisement. You can take that stock number with you but good luck finding the car. Some dealers have multiple locations only have to list one stock number and the car could be at any one of their locations.
If you do happen to find the ad car and you want to buy it, make sure you read the fine print in the ad and hold your ground. The dealer will try and talk you out of buying it because they don’t want to sell it.
They bought it to specifically use as a loss-leader (stripped) and they won’t make any money selling it to you at the advertised price. As long as you meet the requirements, the dealer will probably sell the ad car to you. A dealer usually keeps a couple of loss-leader vehicles on the lot so they can advertise the low prices and payments in their advertisements. The trick is finding them.
As a dealer, I would special order a few stripped cars from the manufacturer just so I could legally advertise super low payments and prices in my print, radio, and television advertising. I’d order some of these vehicles without carpet, radio, or even air conditioning.
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